Monday, April 29, 2013

Want to help celebrate Pretty Serious' first birthday and have a chance to win some Pretty Serious polishes? Check out the press release below. I think you're going to like the prize.

PRETTY SERIOUS IS TURNING ONE!

Our fabulous NEW
sparkling birthday polish "Daphne's Birthday Party" is now on sale and
you can help us make May 14th a very special day for both us and our
girl Daphne, and pick yourself up some bonuses as well!

How can you be a part of the festivities? Easy!

Firstly, grab yourself a
bottle of Daphne's Birthday Party as soon as you possibly can! You want
to make sure you have yourself properly prepared in time. You can pick
it up now at www.pretty-serious.com

Next, get that polish of sparkly
explosion on your nails so you can grab yourself a swatch or two (a
whole blog posts worth even!) If you are going to put it on your blog,
you may want to get it ready before hand, but most importantly...

TRY NOT TO EXPLODE AS YOU WAIT UNTIL MAY 14TH!!!

Once it hits May 14th in your timezone,
unleash upon the interwebs with all you have and wish Daphne a Happy
Birthday! We want to spread the sparkly confetti far and wide on one big
special day, and we don't care if you aren't a nail artist with but
just a dormant instagram account to your name - join in with us!

Finally, come to our site and hit the
Contact Us tab on the side of the page, or just email
info@pretty-serious.com, and let us know where you put your swatch.

Why?

We're giving everyone who joins in a 20%
off discount code for their next order! But most importantly, we'll put
you in the draw to win the very special prize of

EVERY SINGLE POLISH WE RELEASE UNTIL DAPHNE TURNS 2!!!

Trust us, that's quite a bit of polish that will start paying off rather immediately.

As we said before though, just a few general rules-

Your swatches must be of Daphne's
Birthday Party, and they must be your own. Stealing someone else's
swatch of Poltergeist Puddle and putting it up on the day doesn't count.
Just saying, because there's always someone... Also, the polish must
have been bought by you. No buying one bottle so you and 5 close friends
can enter. That's not very sporting. Group orders are okay, provided
every entrant [purchases their own bottle.

Your swatch must be viewable to all on
some form of social media or website. Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Pinterest, Instagram, your own blog - the more the merrier!

Each person will only be entered into
the draw once. We toyed with the idea of an entry per separate post, but
obviously, some people have a much larger online presence than others
and we wanted a fair and even playing field for everyone joining in. We
hope everyone will simply get into the spirit of it all and go crazy, if
possible, anyway!

When we say "every single polish", that
does not include any special one off polishes we may do for whatever
reason. An example of this is The Great Below, a one of a kind polish
currently up for auction for Paint It Blue. Other Limited Edition's in
the vein of Emma Louise or Golden Ticket - all yours!

The competition is open to anyone who
buys a bottle of Daphne's Birthday Party. Any bloggers that we may give a
promotional sample to are not eligible, but if they bought a polish
like everyone else - fair game! Also, our immediate family and close
friends - all ineligible.

We'll draw the winner as soon as we can
possibly organise it after the day is well and truly done. It will be
drawn by a mutual third party who we have not yet decided on, and we
will post a video of the drawing on our YouTube channel for all to see.
Kaz is already cranky that she has to be in front of the camera, but we
will do our best to prove we have an honest winner.

If anyone has any questions or is
confused about anything - PLEASE ASK US! Leave a comment on our blog
or Facebook wall, send an email, whatever you are comfortable with! We
won't bite, and we're happy to help!

We hope you'll be a part of our incredible first birthday celebration!

There's
still time to grab a bottle, so feel free to share this info on your
blogs and help us make our first birthday an even bigger party!!
Daphne's Birthday Party is now available from www.pretty-serious.com for
$9.95. Our Aussie made polishes are cruelty free, vegan friendly and
Big 3 free. Volume is 11ml/0.37fl.oz

Sunday, April 28, 2013

One of my side projects has been working on swatching my stash of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms. I swatched a good portion of my collection a while back and I thought I had posted all of my swatches. Guess not. Found this one sitting in my drafts folder. Huh. Well, I'm posting it now.

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in 22 Bronze Coral. Tons of colors in this one. Bronze and coral, like the name says, but also pink, gold, yellow, green, red, orange, mauve, red and a little purple. This has a very fine but distinct type of shimmer particle in it, as you can see in the bottle in the very last picture. It looks nearly holographic in certain types of light. Like most of the Nail Prisms, this one was on the sheer side. It's been so long since I took this picture that I don't remember exactly how many coats I needed, but I'm certain this is at least four.

Even with all of the new-style duochrome/multichrome polishes that have come out lately, I still have an extreme fondness for these. They're sheer and they take a million years to dry, but there's just nothing like seeing all of those unexpected colors shifting and changing right before your eyes.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Been a while since I've posted an eye of the day, hasn't it? I've been forgetting to take pictures. Plus, I've been wearing variations on the same three looks for a while, so nothing really worth photographing I guess. Here's some recent ones that I enjoyed wearing because they were bright and fun.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

China Glaze Running in Circles. Here's a little gem I recently picked up from the beauty supply store. I hadn't seen this color before and it looked amazing, so I had to have it. A quick Googling tells me it's from the Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away 3D collection which I don't remember at all... It must have come out while I was hibernating. It's medium green jelly base with bright, shiny, multi-tonal green and gold chunky glass fleck shimmer. The bottle shows a hint of blue duochrome flash, but I don't see any of that on the nail. It's mostly yellow-toned green, which is my favorite type of green, but you can see little flecks of blue-toned green within the shimmer. The jelly base is more on the blue side as well.

The formula on this was runnier than I expected from China Glaze. I had to go very slow while applying to prevent it from running and pooling in my cuticles. I used three coats here and I'm happy with how it looks at three. Once it is fully dried it loses some of its shine, but a nice, thick topcoat takes care of that. I'd recommend a quick-dry like Seche Vite since this has a slightly longer than average dry time.

Pretty Serious Emma Louise. This polish has a rich dark purple jelly base and a crapload of green and purple glitter in different shapes and sizes. The purple base is surprisingly bright and vibrant; is there such a thing as a dark neon? Because it's totally a dark neon.

The formula on this is a bit thick. When I wear it, I make sure to apply very thin coats so that it doesn't clump at the edges. Applying thin coats also helps it dry faster, so it's a good idea to begin with. I used three coats here just to get it really dense and opaque, but it looks perfectly fine with only two coats, just a touch less dense. I wear two coats of topcoat with this one for a perfectly glassy surface.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

San Francisco by OPI brings street chic style with West Coast flair to nails and toes for Fall/Winter 2013. This new collection features a palette ranging from sky and sea-colored hues of blues and gray to reds, burgundies and browns inspired by some of the city’s most iconic elements – Chinatown, the Golden Gate bridge and the Embarcadero.

This fall mélange is mixed with texture, seen in three new Liquid Sand™ nail lacquers in earthy hues of taupe, blue and gray: It’s All San Andreas’s Fault, Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! and Alcatraz…Rocks. Liquid Sand lacquers dry to a textured, matte finish, infused with reflective sparkle.

“To me, the women of San Francisco and the city itself really epitomize today’s multifaceted beauty consumer,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “San Francisco offers a European flair with distinct West Coast attributes. These elements inspired a collection of urban chic nail lacquer shades, thanks to the sophisticated combination of high fashion and eclectic street style.

“With twelve colors ranging from moody grays and blues to garnet and ruby jewel tones, these lacquers are designed to accessorize fall’s hottest looks, from military details to winter whites,” continues Weiss-Fischmann. “On fall runways, models were seen wearing luxurious textures from head to toe.

The three new Liquid Sand nail lacquers incorporate the texture trend through nails, with rich matte finishes in colors to complement the season’s fashion.”

San Francisco by OPI includes the following shades:

A-Piers to Be Tan

I shore do like this chocolaty tan.

Dining al Frisco

Just feast your eyes on this fresh-air blue!

Haven’t the Foggiest

Can’t tell you why I love this misty gray...I just do!

Peace & Love & OPI

This holographic sage and eggplant is far out!

Keeping Suzi at Bay

There’s no holding back this assertive navy blue.

Incognito in Sausalito

You better keep this almost-black blue under wraps.

Lost on Lombard

Oh garn-et! I’m all turned around!

I Knead Sour-Dough

Are you bready to wear this toasty warm brown?

Muir Muir on the Wall

This trailblazing plum is the fairest of all.

In the Cable Car-Pool Lane

Good golly, Miss Trolley, this rich burgundy takes me away!

Embarca-Dare Ya!

Betcha can’t pass up this marvelous magenta.

First Date at the Golden Gate

You and me and this shimmery ruby make three.

It’s All San Andreas’s Fault

I’d move mountains to get this textured earthy taupe!

Wharf! Wharf! Wharf!

Dog-gone it...fetch me that textured matte blue!

Alcatraz...Rocks

There’s no escaping this arresting textured gray.

San Francisco nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Liquid Sand nail lacquers should always be worn without top coat. San Francisco by OPI will be available August 7, 2013, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

Glitter Gal Citrine. Know how I like to complain about how gold and silver holos are too common and there need to be more interesting colors than that? Yeah... this is a gold holo that makes me forget about that. What makes Citrine so special? Well... look at it. It's crazy holographic. Instead of a frosty metallic base like most holos have, it has a thick golden-yellow jelly base. That jelly base is packed with very fine holographic particles. It's so holographic that it's even rainbowy in low light (top picture!). So not only is it a very strong, richly colorful linear holo, it actually has a bit of depth to it. It's too beautiful. It needs to come in a bigger bottle.

The formula on it isn't perfect, but it's not too bad. It's quite thick and gel-like, so I find it better to do three very thin coats rather than two thicker coats. It doesn't streak or make bald spots like frosty/metallic-based holos. However, it does take much longer to dry than your average holo, but quick-dry topcoat doesn't ruin the hologram effect on this.

The only other downside to this gorgeous color is that it's pricey. $11 for a 0.3oz (10ml) bottle. That's just a bit larger than an OPI mini. You can use one coat of this over a complementary opaque base color to conserve polish and it won't cheapen the holo effect at all, but that does tend to change the overall color of it.

Glitter Gal is an Australian brand, though it can be ordered from US supplier Llarowe.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Are you familiar with OPI's Liquid Sand finish? If not, here's a super-quick summary of it: It's textured polish. Think a glitter polish without topcoat, but chunkier. It has extra grit, like little grains of sand, and it has a bumpy, gritty, sandpaper-ish look once it dries. Got a basic understanding of it? Good, now check out the six new Liquid Sand colors (sent for review):

OPI Liquid Sand polish in Jinx. Bright orange-coral jelly base with gritty, bright gold glitter. Ice/Psychic type. This is my favorite of the set. Not only is the coral/gold color combination absolutely gorgeous, it just looks 'right' with the gritty texture.

OPI Liquid Sand polish in Pussy Galore. Light, slightly blue-toned pink pearl base with light fuchsia-pink glitter and grit. I like the way the pink glitter shows up in this polish. Little glints of reddish-pink darker than the base color.

OPI Liquid Sand polish in Tiffany Case. Medium aqua blue shimmer base with blue and silver microglitter, grit, and a tiny amount of larger (but still small) silver glitter. This is a different shade, texture and opacity level than Get Your Number from the Mariah Carey collection.

OPI Liquid Sand polish in Vesper. An eggplant purple jelly base with black glitter and white grit. This one's really interesting. It looks like a red/dark burgundy creme in the bottle, but not on the nail. The sand texture is most obvious and dramatic in this polish and the end result is really weird but cool. It's one of those ugly/pretty polishes that I'm always intrigued by. In my opinion, this looks horrific with topcoat unless you do three coats of color and another three of topcoat to make it look like a normal polish.

OPI Vesper, one coat. Can you see the mixture of white and black particles in here?

OPI says that, "OPI Liquid Sand lacquers should always be worn without top coat.", probably because topcoat defeats the purpose of these polishes, but some of them actually look like pretty glitter polishes if you use enough topcoat to smooth out the grit. I'm only using one coat of topcoat in the pictures below, but they absorb so much topcoat as they dry that you'll likely want two or more coats if you choose to wear them this way.

OPI Honey Ryder with topcoat.

OPI Jinx with topcoat. (ASJKHSFJKH AMAZING)

OPI Pussy Galore with topcoat.

OPI Solitaire with topcoat.

OPI Tiffany Case with topcoat.

OPI Vesper with topcoat.

The formula on these was very good. They apply evenly with zero effort and they dry very quickly. I have no complaints about the formula. All are opaque in two coats and that's what I'm wearing here. Removal is the same as any glitter polish, but the grit can be rough and scratchy on the nails if you don't let your remover soak on the nail long enough.

I'm still not in love with the liquid sand texture, but it's growing on me. I like these colors better than the previous ones. I'd choose Jinx and Vesper as my picks from the collection just for their beauty and uniqueness.

These six new shades will be available beginning May 2013 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Chatters, JCP Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.